I keep the different parts of my life compartmentalized for survival, and now this billionaire Alpha has broken down those walls, bleeding the various pieces of me together.
5
The alley door slams behind me, and I gulp down air that carries the stench of garbage and stale cigarettes. My heart hammers as I put distance between myself and the back entrance of the Blue Note.
I don’t remember leaving my stool or bolting for the door. The narrow space between the buildings offers no real escape, though, as my mind scrambles to understand how the Alpha who keeps popping up at my workplace found me here, in the one place I thought was safe.
Broken glass crunches under my boots as I pace, counting my breaths.One, two, three…
The door creaks open again, and Rowan’s scent hits me before he speaks, whiskey and the lingeringcopper of tonight’s violence. He lets the door swing shut before he steps closer, each knuckle cracking as he flexes his fingers one by one while he sizes up the situation.
“You’re wound tight.” He leans one shoulder on the brick wall. “I thought you were getting along with your new in-laws.”
My jaw clenches so hard my teeth might crack. “Not my in-laws. Micah’s in-laws.”
Micah’s my boy, but he’s not only mine anymore.
“Thought it was the same thing with you two.” His head tilts, taking the measure of my spiraling. “So what happened between you and the pretty Alpha inside to spook you into running?”
I wipe sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. “Not a damn thing.”
A lie. Gabriel has invaded every corner of my existence, watching me with those damn hazel eyes, offering gifts I never asked for. Now he’s here, too. There’s no escaping the man.
Rowan doesn’t buy it. We’ve known each other too long for him to miss my tells when I’m withholding information.
“If he crosses a line, or he’s interfering with your work and won’t back off… It doesn’t matter what kind of connections his family has. I’ll handle it.”
There was a time when I might have nodded and let Rowan solve my problems the way he solves everything, with violence and a body that disappears. But now the thought horrifies me, one more sign of how fucked up I am about Gabriel.
“He’s harmless,” I mutter, the words unconvincing even to my own ears.
Before Rowan can demand more, the back door creaks open again. The sound freezes me mid-step, muscles locking tight as a prickle of awareness raises goose bumps all over my body. Gabriel’s unique pheromones hit my senses, and my nostrils flare, drinking him in.
Fuck.
No other Alpha has smelled good to me. Not just Alpha.No one. I shove that thought down, refusing to acknowledge what it might mean, and bury it beneath layers of anger and resentment.
Rowan straightens to alertness as Gabriel steps into the alley, his thousand-dollar shoes navigating the grimy concrete with careful steps while his hands tuck into his pockets.
His uncertainty somehow pisses me off even more.
I turn to walk away, my boots scraping loose gravel.
“Wait, Saint, hold on a second,” Gabriel calls after me.
I stop walking, not because Gabriel asked, but because Rowan shifts to block my path. My fingers curl into fists as I glare at my friend, promising retribution.
Rowan’s mouth quirks up at one corner, amused by my reaction, which only stokes the fire building inside.
Gabriel glances between us, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. “Look, I didn’t follow you here, I swear. I came because I need to talk to Orien.”
I glare at him. “Yeah. I heard.”
“And I didn’t chase you out here, either.” Gabriel shifts with discomfort. “Orien said he’d meet me out back.”
I stiffen. Orien isn’t anyone’s friend, least of all Gabriel’s, and if he told the Alpha to meet him out here, it’s because he wants to throw gas on the fire.
Rowan’s lips purse. “Are you meeting Ori for business or personal?”
